The Third Man

Steven Hammell stayed at Motherwell when two teammates moved on, but the defender may have the last laugh

I do feel older than I am,” says Steven Hammell, a momentary look of stark comprehension raising his thin blond eyebrows. It is as if the realisation chides him. His age and his life do not seem to tally. Hammell is 23, yet he has started 207 first-team games for Motherwell and is the club’s longest-serving player. He is a young man, but he is also the father of a six-year-old boy. He has lived beyond his years, a stretching existence.

“Having a kid when I was 17 has helped me mature a lot,” he says, smiling at the mention of his son. “It’s kept me on my feet and away from all the things I shouldn’t be doing. And it’s made me look at life in a different way.” He nurtures his well-rounded self-awareness and the sensibility it has sharpened. A cut-glass perceptiveness. These qualities will become allies in